GPO Updates History Exhibit Featuring Machine Typesetting

Friday, October 19, 2012

Press release from the issuing company

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has updated its history exhibit with a new display exploring machine typesetting and its impact on the printing industry and worldwide communication from the early 1900s to the 1980s. The exhibit, "Keeping America Informed: The U.S. Government Printing Office: 150 Years of Service to the Nation," originally opened in June 2011 to celebrate GPO's 150th anniversary. The new display includes objects, photos, and videos of linotype and monotype machines focusing on the way the machines expanded Government printing and played a role in the growth of the Government and the Nation during the 20th century. GPO has on display a linotype machine that was previously installed in a truck, creating a mobile print shop to produce essential war materials during World War I by General Pershing. Also on display are other examples of linotype and monotype machines, the type they set, and the documents they produced. Videos enhance the display explaining how the linotype and monotype machines work and their impact on communication. The exhibit is located at 732 North Capitol Street NW and is open Monday-Friday from 8:00am-4:00pm.

Simultaneously, GPO is prominently featured in a new documentary Linotype: The Film, which is being publicly released worldwide today. The documentary features GPO employees focusing on the linotype machine and the way it revolutionized printing, communication, and society. At one point, GPO had the largest battery of linotype machines in the world.